Monthly Archives: March 2011

2d10 To-Hit

OK, so using the dice probability link I have listed at left, I have converted the 2d6 hit probabilities from Chainmail to a 2d10 table. I eyeballed some of the numbers that didn’t jive properly. The expanded range let me tweak the armor types a little, too.
The table (and at this point, that is all it is) is uploaded to my google docs. If anyone takes a look at this, please give me your feedback. Thanks.
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Probability Curves – or put another way – Ring My Bell

This will be brief. I was thinking this morning about probabilities. I am a big fan of bell curves. For some reason, that seems to be true of a lot of “seasoned” gamers. We know who we are. I like 2d6 systems. I’m implimenting them for my thief skills and magic casting rolls. I would like to use it for combat, but it seems to not have enough range to allow for a variety of modifiers. Especially if those modifiers start adding up. Adding +3 to a 2d6 roll is a big deal.
I had this crazy idea, though. Why not 2d10? The basic number of results are the same. Well, almost, there are 19 final results from 2d10. It’s the curve vs linear distribution that matters. There’s all kind of cool stuff that comes from it.
Anyway, I’m thinking about going with a to-hit roll table based on individual weapons vs specific armor types, a la Chainmail. Convert those numbers to a 2d10 roll, then use the BaB from the Ascending Armor Class option. Those numbers might need some massaging,not sure yet. Either way, it should be easy-peasy.
Now, if only I had some guinea pi– er, uh, players to test this out on . . .
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Under a Red Sun Dying

The Gods, especially those of Law, return to the Maelstrom unlike anything else. They unravel slowly, agonizingly, many times taking eons to finally die.
Vayn was the Sun Goddess. She was the resplendent, living sun of Kalagris. With her radiant golden hair trailing out behind her, she crossed the daytime skies, bringing warmth and llfe. By night she stalked the Underworld, seeking out her enemies with flaming orange eyes.
Then, she began to unravel. Over many bitter generations of men was Vayn torn limb from limb by the pull of chaos. Her screams of pain rained down from on high and there was nowhere in the world to escape that awful sound. Generations of men were born, lived their entire lives, and died with the sounds of her agony ripping at their ears, and their sanity.
Eventually there wasn’t enough of her left and her strength was almost spent. She was unable to maintain her course through the sky. She stopped at her highest point, and there awaited the end. Chaos continued to rip and tear at her, until finally it stopped.
There is no explaination for it stopping. It just did. All that is left of the once mighty Vayn is her heart. It hangs high in the sky over Kalagris, glowing a dull and ruddy blood-red. It yet beats, slowly, its dim light pulsing in time to the pitiful rhythm. Both the sound of the beating and the pulsing bloody glow are said to induce madness in the weak mind, and hopeless despair in the faint heart.
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Thoughts on Ascending Armor Class

      A lot of people like the Ascending AC thing. I’ll admit that, on paper, I like it. It grates against my Old Fart sensibilities, but I’m open minded, so I had decided to use it (should I ever actually run a game of WhiteBox).
     Then one of the tenets of old school play came to mind. In order to facilitate player engagement, and a sense of control over one’s own fate, players have more and more claimed the right to make all the rolls for their characters. It was not always thus. In fact, in the LBB (Pg 10 of Men and Magic) under Determination of Abilities, it is laid plain that the referee actually rolls player character stats:
     “Prior to the character selection by players it is necessary for the referee to roll three six-sided dice in order to rate each as to various abilities, and thus aid them in selecting a role.”
Isn’t that a fine kettle of fish?
     Of course, DMs were expected to roll anything the character could not immediately determine the success of, such as hiding and moving silently.
     What does all that have to do with Ascending AC? In a word: unpredicability. With AAC it is assumed that the player always knows what he needs to roll in order to hit. That’s the whole point of it, to streamline combat by establishing a more intuitive method for determing what the player needs to roll. But that doesn’t leave much room for the mysterious or unpredictable, now does it?
     Descending AC, or more to the point, an actual to-hit table, is a horse of another color. With that the DM tells the player that the bandits are wearing leather armor, except the chief who has chain. Great. So, they know what they normally need to roll to hit chain, and smack him one, or so they think. Let’s say they needed a 15 to-hit, and rolled spot on. They gleefully reach for the damage die, and you say “Nope. No good. You missed.”
     Wait a minute, they think. What the hell just happened? One of two things. Either this guy is slippery as hell, or that chain is magic. But who knows for sure?

     The new games and systems have their own design goals. The designers set out to deliver a certain experience at the gaming table, and their designs reflect that. It is always important to remember that. They are trying to deliver to you their vision of the best system, and therefore, experience, that they possibly can. If your vision jives with theirs, then great. If not, then I ask, is newer really better? In this case, I think I’ll be coming up with something that allows me to inject some mystery into opponents. Maybe not exactly the Descending AC system, but something similar, to be sure.
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Google Docs Update

OK, I’m learning. I’ve created a folder for all my S&W stuff. I’ve added pdf’s of my cleric, fighter, and Damage Threshold articles, so if anyone wants them, they are in a more immediately usable form. I also learned that I can post a link to the folder (Google Docs calls it a “Collection”), rather than posting links to individual articles. The link is at the bottom of the page, after the posts.

Google Docs

I am somehat frustrated. Blogger doesn’t handle attachments, and I don’t want all my house rules and crap to be in-line in my blog. So, I am going to try linking to Google docs for “finished” things. That will also have the advantage of downloadability, if anyone sees something they like. I’ll post inro blurbs for the docs I upload there. I’ll also post “developer” type notes here. I hope this works.

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Music for the Mood

The three main philosophical underpinnings of my world are:


Nihilism, being defined as an extreme form of scepticism that systematically rejects all values, belief in existence, the possibility of communication, etc.


Defeatism, acceptance of or resignation to the prospect of defeat.


Hedonism, the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life.


We’ll explore these further when I discuss Alignment. For now, let’s just say that there is a grim, ugly slant on a party-like-it’s-1999 vibe in the world. Here is some music that really sets the tone for me when I’m working on it:


Tool – most of it, but Undertow especially
Type O Negative – again, most of it
Johnny Cash – Hurt
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare
Disturned – The Animal, Indestructible, Inside the Fire
Drowning Pool – 37 Stitches, Let the Bodies Hit the Floor
Linkin Park – a lot
Five Finger Death Punch – Far from Home, Bad Company
Nine Inch Nails
Rob Zombie/White Zombie
Ronnie James Dio – Last in Line
Stone Sour
Slipknot
Skillet – Hero
Rage Against the Machine


So, that’s a start. I’m sure it has you moving in the right direction. Now, grab a sword and go carve off your piece while there’s still something left.
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A Note Concerning My World

I’m not a professional author or game designer. I’m sure if you’ve made it this far with me, you know these things by now. However, I am very excited by the ideas I am having for this world. I am also really stoked by the old school mojo that WhiteBox has rekindled in my dark little soul.
Anyway, my point is that most of what you see here will be stream-of-conscious style writing. One world entry won’t flow to the next. A new entry may build on one that was 6 weeks ago. Entries may be long or short; an entire region,complete with NPC names, or just enough to express some relevant twist to something that went before.
Perhaps someday, if there is enough interest, I may compile and edit all of it into something remotely usable. Until then, think of it as I do: a notebook where I can scribble ideas, bits of maps, new magic items, spells, and monsters.
Oh, yes, and speaking of interest: I want to welcome my very first follower, ever, ze bulette. I’ve enjoyed your site greatly and only hope I can return at least some small portion of the favor.
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